I didn’t think I’d be doing this again, going off topic. But when something plays on your mind, you need to get it out somehow, and this seems as good a place as any. Especially as you will have seen me link some of my happy theatre experiences to being a Holby City fan, and […]
Author: #BDB
The miseducation of Catherine Russell
(Guest post by Payal Dhar) Never—all right, rarely—has an actor divided a fandom the way that Catherine Russell split the Berenas following the infamous December 2018 episodes. The dedicated fans who won’t hear a word against her have squared up on one side, and on the other are the equally dedicated but disillusioned former fans. […]
But they didn’t kill any lesbians!
Yesterday morning I woke up to a Twitter storm. Since December 2018, that’s been par for the course—someone associated with Holby City makes an ill-judged comment and the fandom rises up. This time, however, it was different. DIVA, the British magazine dedicated to LBT culture, seemed to be somehow involved in it. Someone I’d met […]
Who Decides Who Cares?
Payal Dhar examines if there is a right and a wrong way to understand stories, and if so, who decides? Does fiction have to be accountable to its readers (or viewers and listeners)? Or is the creator’s intent paramount? A couple of developments in the past few months have had me thinking about the power […]
The Problem with Context:
The BBC’s Complaint Process and Prejudice
I first came across Berena while searching Youtube for something else. A compilation of Berena scenes from the (then recent) ‘Primum Non Nocere’ episodes came up in the results. I was already a fan of Jemma Redgrave, and knew of Catherine Russell, and I watched because I was curious. Forty-five seconds in they kissed, and […]
BBC’s CEO acknowledges our open letter
After almost two months of sustained protests and complaints, there is finally indication that the BBC may be listening. On 12 February 2019, I had emailed Tim Davie, CEO of the BBC, a copy of our open letter with its nearly 300 signatures. Today, 18 February, I received this response: Dear Payal, Thank you for […]